Method for transmitting and receiving frame in wireless local area network and apparatus for the same

ABSTRACT

Disclosed are method for transmitting and receiving frame in wireless local area network and apparatus for the same. A communication method performed in a first station, the communication method comprises receiving, through a channel from an access point, a first frame notifying a first period for transmission or reception of a frame; and processing the first frame, wherein a second period exists between the first frame and the first period, and wherein the second period is a contention period during which stations are allowed to contend for the channel. Therefore, performance of WLAN can be enhanced.

CLAIM FOR PRIORITY

This application is a continuation of U.S. Patent application Ser. No.14/814,276, filed on Jul. 30, 2015, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,781,742, issuedOct. 3, 2017, which claims priority to Korean Patent Application No.10-2014-0097312 filed on Jul. 30, 2014 and No. 10-2015-0084899 filed onJun. 16, 2015 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), theentire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

Example embodiments of the present invention relate in general to thefield of wireless local area network (LAN) technology, and morespecifically, to a technology for coexistence between wireless LANtechnology and other communication technologies.

2. Related Art

With the development of information communication technologies, avariety of wireless communication technologies have been developed.Among these technologies, wireless local area network (WLAN) is atechnology that Internet access is possible in a wireless way in homes,business or specific service providing areas, using portable terminalsuch as personal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop computer, a portablemultimedia player (PMP), or the like, based on wireless frequencytechnologies.

WLAN technologies are created and standardized by the IEEE 802.11Working Group under IEEE 802 Standard Committee. As such WLAN technologybecomes more prevalent and its applications become more diverse, thereis increasing demand for new WLAN technology that can support a higherthroughput than existing WLAN technologies. Very high throughput (VHT)WLAN technology is proposed to support a data rate of 1 Gbps and higher.A WLAN technology according to IEEE 802.11ac standard is a technologyproviding VHT in sub 6 GHz band, and A WLAN technology according to IEEE802.11ad standard is a technology providing VHT in 60 GHz band.

In addition to the above-described standards, various standards on WLANtechnologies have been developed, and are being developed. Asrepresentative recent technologies, a WLAN technology according to IEEE802.11af standard is a technology which has been developed for WLANoperation in TV white space bands, and a WLAN technology according toIEEE 802.11ah standard is a technology which has been developed to forsupporting a great number of stations operating with low power in sub 1GHz band, and a WLAN technology according to IEEE 802.11ai standard is atechnology which has been developed for supporting fast initial linksetup (FILS) in WLAN systems. Also, IEEE 802.11ax standard is beingdeveloped for enhancing frequency efficiency of dense environments inwhich numerous access points and stations exist.

Meanwhile, Bluetooth, long term evolution-unlicensed (LTE-U), Zigbee aswell as a wireless local area network (LAN) operate in an industrial,scientific and medical (ISM) band. Since the wireless LAN technologyoperates using a protocol different from those of other communicationtechnologies, a frame transmitted and received based on the wireless LANtechnology may collide with a frame transmitted and received based onother communication technologies. The collision between frames maydegrade a wireless LAN system.

SUMMARY

Accordingly, example embodiments of the present invention are providedto substantially obviate one or more problems due to limitations anddisadvantages of the related art.

Example embodiments of the present invention provide a method fortransmitting and receiving a frame for coexistence between a wirelessLAN technology and other communication technologies, and an apparatusfor the same.

In order to achieve the objectives of the present invention, acommunication method performed in a first station, the communicationmethod comprises receiving, through a channel from an access point, afirst frame notifying a first period for transmission or reception of aframe; and processing the first frame, wherein a second period existsbetween the first frame and the first period, and wherein the secondperiod is a contention period during which stations are allowed tocontend for the channel.

Here, the first frame includes a schedule information field, and theschedule information field includes a duration field indicating aduration time of the first period and a start time field indicating astart time of the first period indicated by the duration field.

Here, the first frame includes a schedule information field, and theschedule information field includes a start time field indicating astart time of the first period and an end time field indicating an endtime of the first period.

Here, the first frame includes a schedule information field, and theschedule information field includes a start time field indicating astart time of a communication duration including the first period andthe second period, a duration field indicating a duration time of thefirst period, an interval field indicating an interval time betweenfirst periods and an end time indicating field including information forindicating an end time of the communication duration.

Here, the first period is a contention-free period during which stationsare not allowed to contend for the channel.

In addition, the communication method further comprises generating asecond frame requesting the first period for transmission or receptionof a frame; and transmitting the second frame through the channel,wherein the first frame is received in response to the second frame.

In addition, the communication method further comprises receiving athird frame in the first period.

In addition, the communication method further comprises transmitting athird frame in the first period.

Here, the first frame includes information about a plurality of firstperiods each representing a different transmission duration or adifferent reception duration.

Here, the first frame is transmitted based on a first communicationprotocol, and a third frame is transmitted or received based on a secondcommunication protocol.

Here, the first station supports a plurality of communication protocols.

In order to achieve the objectives of the present invention, acommunication method performed in a first station, the communicationmethod comprises receiving a first frame notifying a first period fortransmission or reception of a frame through a channel; and transmittinga second frame in response to the first frame through the channel,wherein a second period exists between a transmission duration of thefirst frame and the first period, and stations are allowed to contendfor the channel in the second period.

Here, the first frame includes a schedule information field, and theschedule information field includes a duration field indicating aduration time of the first period and a start time field indicating astart time of the first period indicated by the duration field.

Here, the first period is a contention-free period during which stationsare not allowed to contend for the channel.

Here, the second frame confirms the first period.

In addition, the communication method further comprises receiving arequest to send (RTS) frame from a third station; and when a durationindicated by a duration field included in the RTS frame overlaps thefirst period, transmitting a guard frame to prevent a collision betweenframes in the overlapping duration.

Here, a duration field of the guard frame indicates a duration timewithin a range between an end time of the guard frame and a start timeof the first period.

In addition, the communication method further comprises transmitting aguard frame in a preset duration prior to a start time of the firstperiod to prevent a collision between frames in the first period.

Here, a duration field of the guard frame indicates a duration timewithin a range between an end time of the guard frame and an end time ofthe first period.

Here, the first frame is transmitted based on a first communicationprotocol, and the frame is transmitted or received based on a secondcommunication protocol.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Example embodiments of the present invention will become more apparentby describing in detail example embodiments of the present inventionwith reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of a WLAN device;

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a transmitting signalprocessing unit in a WLAN;

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a receiving signalprocessing unit in the WLAN;

FIG. 4 is a timing diagram illustrating interframe space (IFS)relationships;

FIG. 5 is a timing diagram illustrating a frame transmission procedurebased on a CSMA (carrier sense multiple access)/CA (collision avoidance)manner for avoiding collision between frames in a channel;

FIG. 6 is a timing chart illustrating a case of collision occurringbetween frames;

FIG. 7 is a timing chart illustrating a method for transmitting andreceiving a frame for coexistence between a wireless local area network(LAN) and Bluetooth according to an example embodiment of the preventinvention;

FIG. 8 is a timing chart illustrating a method for transmitting andreceiving a frame for coexistence between a wireless LAN and Bluetoothaccording to another example embodiment of the prevent invention;

FIG. 9 is a timing chart illustrating a method for transmitting andreceiving a frame for coexistence between a wireless LAN and Bluetoothaccording to still another example embodiment of the prevent invention;

FIG. 10A is a block diagram illustrating a SNAV-A frame according to thefirst example embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10B is a block diagram illustrating a SNAV-A frame according to thesecond example embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 10C is a block diagram illustrating a SNAV-A frame according to thethird example embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

In the following detailed description, only certain embodiments of thepresent invention have been shown and described, simply by way ofillustration. As those skilled in the art would realize, the describedembodiments may be modified in various different ways, all withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the present invention.Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded asillustrative in nature and not restrictive. Like reference numeralsdesignate like elements throughout the specification.

In a wireless local area network (WLAN), a basic service set (BSS)includes a plurality of WLAN devices. The WLAN device may include amedium access control (MAC) layer and a physical (PHY) layer accordingto IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.11standard. In the plurality of WLAN devices, at least one WLAN device maybe an access point and the other WLAN devices may be non-AP stations(non-AP STAs). Alternatively, all the plurality of WLAN devices may benon-AP STAs in Ad-hoc networking. In general, the AP STA and the non-APSTA may be collectively called the STA. However, for easy description,only the non-AP STA may be called the STA.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of a WLAN device.

Referring to FIG. 1, the WLAN device 1 may include a baseband processor10, a radio frequency (RF) transceiver 20, an antenna unit 30, a memory40, an input interface unit 50, an output interface unit 60, and a bus70. The baseband processor 10 may perform baseband signal processing,and may include a MAC processor 11 and a PHY processor 15.

In one embodiment, the MAC processor 11 may include a MAC softwareprocessing unit 12 and a MAC hardware processing unit 13. The memory 40may store software (hereinafter referred to as “MAC software”) includingat least some functions of the MAC layer. The MAC software processingunit 12 executes the MAC software to implement the some functions of theMAC layer, and the MAC hardware processing unit 13 may implementremaining functions of the MAC layer as hardware (hereinafter referredto “MAC hardware”). However, the MAC processor 11 is not limited tothis. The PHY processor 15 may include a transmitting signal processingunit 100 and a receiving signal processing unit 200.

The baseband processor 10, the memory 40, the input interface unit 50,and the output interface unit 60 may communicate with each other via thebus 70. The RF transceiver 20 may include an RF transmitter 21 and an RFreceiver 22. The memory may further store an operating system andapplications. The input interface unit 50 receives information from auser, and the output interface unit 60 outputs information to the user.

The antenna unit 30 includes one or more antennas. When multiple-inputmultiple-output (MIMO) or multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) is used, the antennaunit 30 may include a plurality of antennas.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a transmitting signalprocessing unit in a WLAN.

Referring to FIG. 2, a transmitting signal processing unit 100 mayinclude an encoder 110, an interleaver 120, a mapper 130, an inverseFourier transformer (IFT) 140, and a guard interval (GI) inserter 150.

The encoder 110 encodes input data. For example, the encoder 100 may bea forward error correction (FEC) encoder. The FEC encoder may include abinary convolutional code (BCC) encoder followed by a puncturing device,or may include a low-density parity-check (LDPC) encoder.

The transmitting signal processing unit 100 may further include ascrambler for scrambling the input data before the encoding to reducethe probability of long sequences of 0 s or 1 s. If BCC encoding is usedin the encoder, the transmitting signal processing unit 100 may furtherinclude an encoder parser for demultiplexing the scrambled bits among aplurality of BCC encoders. If LDPC encoding is used in the encoder, thetransmitting signal processing unit 100 may not use the encoder parser.

The interleaver 120 interleaves the bits of each stream output from theencoder to change order of bits. Interleaving may be applied only whenBCC encoding is used. The mapper 130 maps the sequence of bits outputfrom the interleaver to constellation points. If the LDPC encoding isused in the encoder, the mapper 130 may further perform LDPC tonemapping besides the constellation mapping.

When the MIMO or the MU-MIMO is used, the transmitting signal processingunit 100 may use a plurality of interleavers 120 and a plurality ofmappers corresponding to the number of NSS of spatial streams. In thiscase, the transmitting signal processing unit 100 may further include astream parser for dividing outputs of the BCC encoders or the LDPCencoder into blocks that are sent to different interleavers 120 ormappers 130. The transmitting signal processing unit 100 may furtherinclude a space-time block code (STBC) encoder for spreading theconstellation points from the NSS spatial streams into NSTS space-timestreams and a spatial mapper for mapping the space-time streams totransmit chains. The spatial mapper may use direct mapping, spatialexpansion, or beamforming.

The IFT 140 converts a block of the constellation points output from themapper 130 or the spatial mapper to a time domain block (i.e., a symbol)by using an inverse discrete Fourier transform (IDFT) or an inverse fastFourier transform (IFFT). If the STBC encoder and the spatial mapper areused, the inverse Fourier transformer 140 may be provided for eachtransmit chain.

When the MIMO or the MU-MIMO is used, the transmitting signal processingunit 100 may insert cyclic shift diversities (CSDs) to preventunintentional beamforming. The CSD insertion may occur before or afterthe inverse Fourier transform. The CSD may be specified per transmitchain or may be specified per space-time stream. Alternatively, the CSDmay be applied as a part of the spatial mapper. When the MU-MIMO isused, some blocks before the spatial mapper may be provided for eachuser.

The GI inserter 150 prepends a GI to the symbol. The transmitting signalprocessing unit 100 may optionally perform windowing to smooth edges ofeach symbol after inserting the GI. The RF transmitter 21 converts thesymbols into an RF signal and transmits the RF signal via the antennaunit 30. When the MIMO or the MU-MIMO is used, the GI inserter 150 andthe RF transmitter 21 may be provided for each transmit chain.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a receiving signalprocessing unit in the WLAN.

Referring to FIG. 3, a receiving signal processing unit 200 may includea GI remover 220, a Fourier transformer (FT) 230, a demapper 240, adeinterleaver 250, and a decoder 260. An RF receiver 22 receives an RFsignal via the antenna unit 30 and converts the RF signal into thesymbols. The GI remover 220 removes the GI from the symbol. When theMIMO or the MU-MIMO is used, the RF receiver 22 and the GI remover 220may be provided for each receive chain.

The FT 230 converts the symbol (i.e., the time domain block) into ablock of the constellation points by using a discrete Fourier transform(DFT) or a fast Fourier transform (FFT). The Fourier transformer 230 maybe provided for each receive chain. When the MIMO or the MU-MIMO isused, the receiving signal processing unit 200 may a spatial demapperfor converting the Fourier transformed receiver chains to constellationpoints of the space-time streams, and an STBC decoder for despreadingthe constellation points from the space-time streams into the spatialstreams.

The demapper 240 demaps the constellation points output from the Fouriertransformer 230 or the STBC decoder to the bit streams. If the LDPCencoding is used, the demapper 240 may further perform LDPC tonedemapping before the constellation demapping. The deinterleaver 250deinterleaves the bits of each stream output from the demapper 240.Deinterleaving may be applied only when BCC encoding is used.

When the MIMO or the MU-MIMO is used, the receiving signal processingunit 200 may use a plurality of demappers 240 and a plurality ofdeinterleavers 250 corresponding to the number of spatial streams. Inthis case, the receiving signal processing unit 200 may further includea stream deparser for combining the streams output from thedeinterleavers 250.

The decoder 260 decodes the streams output from the deinterleaver 250 orthe stream deparser. For example, the decoder 100 may be an FEC decoder.The FEC decoder may include a BCC decoder or an LDPC decoder. Thereceiving signal processing unit 200 may further include a descramblerfor descrambling the decoded data. If BCC decoding is used in thedecoder, the receiving signal processing unit 200 may further include anencoder deparser for multiplexing the data decoded by a plurality of BCCdecoders. If LDPC decoding is used in the decoder 260, the receivingsignal processing unit 100 may not use the encoder deparser.

FIG. 4 is a timing diagram illustrating interframe space (IFS)relationships.

Referring to FIG. 4, a data frame, a control frame, or a managementframe may be exchanged between WLAN devices. The data frame is used fortransmission of data forwarded to a higher layer. The WLAN devicetransmits the data frame after performing backoff if a distributedcoordination function IFS (DIFS) has elapsed from a time when the mediumhas been idle.

The management frame is used for exchanging management information whichis not forwarded to the higher layer. Subtype frames of the managementframe include a beacon frame, an association request/response frame, aprobe request/response frame, and an authentication request/responseframe. The control frame is used for controlling access to the medium.Subtype frames of the control frame include a request to send (RTS)frame, a clear to send (CTS) frame, and an acknowledgement (ACK) frame.In the case that the control frame is not a response frame of the otherframe, the WLAN device transmits the control frame after performingbackoff if the DIFS has elapsed. In the case that the control frame isthe response frame of the other frame, the WLAN device transmits thecontrol frame without performing backoff if a short IFS (SIFS) haselapsed. The type and subtype of frame may be identified by a type fieldand a subtype field in a frame control field.

On the other hand, a Quality of Service (QoS) STA may transmit the frameafter performing backoff if an arbitration IFS (AIFS) for accesscategory (AC), i.e., AIFS[AC] has elapsed. In this case, the data frame,the management frame, or the control frame which is not the responseframe may use the AIFC[AC].

FIG. 5 is a timing drawing illustrating a frame transmission procedurebased on a CSMA (carrier sense multiple access)/CA (collision avoidance)manner for avoiding collision between frames in a channel.

Referring to FIG. 5, STA1 is a transmit WLAN device for transmittingdata, STA2 is a receive WLAN device for receiving the data, and STA3 isa WLAN device which may be located at an area where a frame transmittedfrom the STA1 and/or a frame transmitted from the STA2 can be receivedby the WLAN device.

The STA1 may determine whether the channel is busy by carrier sensing.The STA1 may determine the channel occupation based on an energy levelon the channel or correlation of signals in the channel, or maydetermine the channel occupation by using a network allocation vector(NAV) timer.

When determining that the channel is not used by other devices duringDIFS (that is, the channel is idle), the STA1 may transmit an RTS frameto the STA2 after performing backoff. Upon receiving the RTS frame, theSTA2 may transmit a CTS frame as a response of the CTS frame after SIFS.

When the STA3 receives the RTS frame, it may set the NAV timer for atransmission duration of subsequently transmitted frames (for example, aduration of SIFS+CTS frame duration+SIFS+data frame duration+SIFS+ACKframe duration) by using duration information included in the RTS frame.When the STA3 receives the CTS frame, it may set the NAV timer for atransmission duration of subsequently transmitted frames (for example, aduration of SIFS+data frame duration+SIFS+ACK frame duration) by usingduration information included in the RTS frame. Upon receiving a newframe before the NAV timer expires, the STA3 may update the NAV timer byusing duration information included in the new frame. The STA3 does notattempt to access the channel until the NAV timer expires.

When the STA1 receives the CTS frame from the STA2, it may transmit adata frame to the STA2 after SIFS elapses from a time when the CTS framehas been completely received. Upon successfully receiving the dataframe, the STA2 may transmit an ACK frame as a response of the dataframe after SIFS elapses.

When the NAV timer expires, the STA3 may determine whether the channelis busy by the carrier sensing. Upon determining that the channel is notused by the other devices during DIFS after the NAV timer has expired,the STA3 may attempt the channel access after a contention windowaccording to random backoff operation.

Meanwhile, in terms of coexistence with other communication technologies(for example, Bluetooth, long term evolution-unlicensed (LTE-U) andZigbee) in a wireless local area network (LAN), there is a problem inwhich interference occurs upon transmission or reception of frames whenusing a combo chip. Hereinafter, the following description will be madein relation to example embodiments of the present invention which iscapable of solving the drawbacks associated with the coexistence ofwireless LAN technology and Bluetooth technology, but the presentinvention is not limited thereto. That is, example embodiments of thepresent invention can be applied to solving the drawbacks associatedwith the coexistence between wireless LAN technology and othercommunication technologies (for example, LTE-U, Zigbee).

In a frame transmission mode, a station provided with a combo chipsupporting a wireless LAN technology and a Bluetooth technology (orLTE-U, Zigbee) is capable of identifying when a Bluetooth based frametransmission occurs. Accordingly, the station prevents a collisionbetween a frame transmitted in a wireless LAN scheme and a frametransmitted in a Bluetooth scheme, and accordingly secures frametransmission according to the Bluetooth scheme.

However, in a frame reception mode, a frame received in a Bluetoothscheme may collide with a frame received in a wireless LAN scheme. Forexample, when a station which has no information about a frametransmitted in a Bluetooth scheme transmits a frame in a wireless LANscheme in a basic service set (BSS), the frame transmitted in a wirelessLAN scheme may collide with a frame transmitted in a Bluetooth scheme.In particular, according to the Bluetooth scheme, an audio data framehaving a higher priority than other data frames may be generatedapproximately every 4 to 5 ms, and has a length corresponding to 600μs×n(n=1, 3, 5). Since the audio data frame is more likely to collidewith a frame transmitted in a wireless LAN scheme, quality of service(QoS) and quality of experience (QoE) are significantly degraded in awireless LAN system and a Bluetooth system. In addition, when a frameretransmission frequently occurs due to poor channel conditions, QoS andQoE may be further degraded in a wireless LAN system and a Bluetoothsystem.

FIG. 6 is a timing chart illustrating a case of a collision occurringbetween frames.

Referring to FIG. 6, an access point AP, a first station STA1 and asecond station STA2 may form a basic service set (BSS1). A third stationSTA3 may operate in a Bluetooth scheme, and does not belong to the BSS1.The first station STA1 and the second station STA2 may be associatedwith the access point AP. The second station STA2 may be provided with acombo chip that supports a wireless LAN technology and a Bluetoothtechnology, and may be associated with the third station STA3 in aBluetooth scheme. The third station STA3 may represent a master, and thesecond station STA2 may represent a slave.

The third station STA3 may transmit a data frame 600 (for example, anaudio data frame) in a Bluetooth scheme to the second station STA2. Thedata frame 600 has a size corresponding to 600 μs. The data frame 600and a data frame 605 transmitted in a Bluetooth scheme may betransmitted with an interval of 2400 μs. The second station STA2 mayreceive the data frame 600, but the access point AP and the firststation STA1 may fail to receive the data frame 600. That is, the accesspoint AP and the first station STA1 may be outside of a range of frametransmission. When the access point AP and the first station STA1 do notrecognize the existence of the data frame 600 transmitted from the thirdstation STA3, the access point AP and the first station STA1 maytransmit frames 601, 602, 603, 604 and 606 in a wireless LAN schemewithout considering the Bluetooth based transmission.

The access point AP desiring to transmit a data frame may transmit arequest to send (RTS) frame 601, after a contention window according toa random backoff, when a channel is in an idle state during adistributed inter frame space (DIFS). When the first station STA1successfully receives the RTS frame 601, the first station STA1 maytransmit a clear to send (CTS) frame 602 after a short interframe space(SIFS) from an end time of the RTS frame 601 in response to the RTSframe 601. When the access point AP successfully receives the CTS frame602, the access point AP may transmit the data frame 603 after an SIFSfrom an end time of the CTS frame 602.

The access point AP may fail to receive an acknowledgement (ACK) frame,which acknowledges the reception of the data frame 603, from the firststation STA1 within an ACK timeout from an end time of the data frame603. In this case, the access point AP may determine that the data frame603 is not successfully received by the first station STA1, and thus maytransmit the data frame 604 to the first station STA1.

Meanwhile, a transmission duration of the data frame 604 transmitted ina wireless LAN scheme may overlap a transmission duration of the dataframe 605 transmitted in a Bluetooth scheme. In this case, the firststation STA1 may not be subject to interference by the transmission ofthe data frame 605 and thus may successfully receive the data frame 604.However, the second station STA2 may be subject to interference by thetransmission of the data frame 604 (that is, collision between the dataframe 604 and the data frame 605) and thus may fail to successfullyreceive the data frame 605.

In order to prevent a collision between a frame transmitted in awireless LAN scheme and a frame transmitted in a Bluetooth scheme, atime duration in the time domain for wireless LAN based transmission maybe divided from a time duration in the time domain for a Bluetooth basedtransmission.

FIG. 7 is a timing chart illustrating a method for transmitting andreceiving a frame for coexistence between a wireless LAN and Bluetoothaccording to an example embodiment of the prevent invention.

Referring to FIG. 7, an access point AP and a first station STA1 mayform a BSS1. A second station STA2 may operate in a Bluetooth scheme,and does not belong to the BSS1. The first station STA1 may beassociated with the access point AP. The first station STA1 may beprovided with a combo chip that supports a wireless LAN technology and aBluetooth technology, and may be associated with the second station STA2in a Bluetooth scheme. The second station STA2 may represent a master,and the first station STA1 may represent a slave. A time duration isclassified into BT transmission durations BT TX1, BT TX2 and BT TX3 andWLAN transmission durations WLAN TX1 and WLAN TX2. In the BTtransmission durations BT TX1, BT TX2 and BT TX3, frames 700, 705 and710 may be transmitted and received in a Bluetooth scheme, and in theWLAN transmission durations WLAN TX1 and WLAN TX2, frames 701, 702, 703,704, 706, 707, 708 and 709 may be transmitted and received in a wirelessLAN scheme.

In BT TX1, the second station STA2 may transmit the data frame 700 tothe first station STA1 in a Bluetooth scheme. Since there is no frameother than the data frame 700 during the BT transmission duration, thefirst station STA1 may successfully receive the data frame 700. In WLANTX1, the first station STA1 may request frame transmission bytransmitting a power save-poll (PS-Poll) frame 701 in the wireless LANscheme. Thereafter, frames 702, 703 and 704 are transmitted and receivedbetween the access point AP and the first station STA1.

In BT TX2, the second station STA2 may transmit the data frame 705 tothe first station STA1 in a Bluetooth scheme. Since there is no frameother than the data frame 705 during the BT transmission duration, thefirst station STA1 may successfully receive the data frame 705. In WLANTX2, the first station STA1 may request frame transmission bytransmitting a WiFi multimedia (WMM) trigger frame 706. Thereafter,frames 707, 708 and 709 are transmitted and received between the accesspoint AP and the first station STA1. In BT TX3, the second station STA2may transmit the data frame 710 to the first station STA1 in a Bluetoothscheme. Since there is no frame other than the data frame 710 during theBT transmission duration, the first station STA1 may successfullyreceive the data frame 710.

FIG. 8 is a timing chart illustrating a method for transmitting andreceiving a frame for coexistence between a wireless LAN and Bluetoothaccording to another example embodiment of the prevent invention.

Referring to FIG. 8, an access point AP, a first station STA1 and asecond station STA2 may form BSS1. A third station STA3 may operate in aBluetooth scheme, and does not belong to the BSS1. The first stationSTA1 and the second station STA2 may be associated with the access pointAP. The second station STA2 may be provided with a combo chip thatsupports a wireless LAN technology and a Bluetooth technology, and maybe associated with the third station STA3 in a Bluetooth scheme. Thethird station STA3 may represent a master, and the second station STA2may represent a slave.

The third station STA3 may transmit a data frame 800 (for example, anaudio data frame) to the second station STA2 in a Bluetooth scheme. Thesecond station STA2 may receive the data frame 800 from the thirdstation STA3, and identify that a data frame 802 is to be transmittedafter 2400 μs from an end point of the data frame 800. The secondstation STA2 transmits a guard frame 801 in the wireless LAN scheme, toprevent a collision of the data frame 802. The guard frame 801 mayinclude request information for restricting transmission of frames ofother communication entities (i.e., the access point AP and the firststation STA1) during a time between an end time of the guard frame 801and an end time of the data frame 802 (for example, information about aduration from an end time of the guard frame 801 to an end time of thedata frame 802). The other communication entities each having receivedthe guard frame 801 may set a network allocation vector (NAV) based onthe information included in the guard frame 801. In this manner, thetransmission of frames of the other communication entities is restrictedfrom an end time of the guard frame 801 to an end time of the data frame802, so that the second station STA2 successfully receives the dataframe 802 from the third station STA3. Meanwhile, when the NAV is ended,frames 803, 804, 805 and 806 are transmitted and received between theaccess point AP and the first station STA1 in the wireless LAN scheme.

However, the method of preventing a collision between a frametransmitted in the wireless LAN scheme and a frame transmitted in theBluetooth scheme has various drawbacks. First, when a NAV is set to belong by the guard frame 801, other communication entities are notallowed to access a channel during the set duration of the NAV, so thatresources are wasted. According to this method, only the communicationentity operating based on the Bluetooth scheme is allowed channel accessduring a duration set by a NAV, thereby causing a fairness issue.Second, when a NAV is set to be short by the guard frame 801, a frametransmitted in a Bluetooth scheme may be not protected from a frametransmitted in a wireless LAN scheme. That is, a frame transmitted in awireless LAN may collide with a frame transmitted in a Bluetooth scheme.Third, guard frames 801 need to be transmitted at the respective periodsat which a frame is expected to be transmitted in a Bluetooth scheme,and such a frequent transmission of the guard frames 801 may cause awaste of resources. In particular, when the guard frames 801 aretransmitted at a low rate for the compatibility with a legacycommunication entity, the waste of resources may be further increased.

FIG. 9 is a timing chart illustrating a method for transmitting andreceiving a frame for coexistence between a wireless LAN and Bluetoothaccording to another example embodiment of the prevent invention.

Referring to FIG. 9, an access point AP, a first station STA1 and asecond station STA2 may form BSS1. A third station STA3 may operate in aBluetooth scheme, and does not belong to the BSS1. The first stationSTA1 and the second station STA2 may be associated with the access pointAP. The second station STA2 may be provided with a combo chip thatsupports a wireless LAN technology and a Bluetooth technology, and maybe associated with the third station STA3 in a Bluetooth scheme. Thethird station STA3 may represent a master, and the second station STA2may represent a slave.

The third station STA3 may transmit a data frame 900 (for example, anaudio data frame) to the second station STA2 in a Bluetooth scheme. Thesecond station STA2 may receive the data frame 900 from the thirdstation STA3, and identify that data frames 906, 912 and 915 are to betransmitted at intervals of 2400 μs. The second station STA2 maygenerate a scheduled NAV-announcement (SNAV-A) frame 901 in order toprevent a collision of the data frame 906. As the SNAV-A frame 901, oneof a control frame, a management frame and a data frame defined in IEEE802.11 may be used, or a newly specified frame may be used. For example,the SNAV-A frame 901 may be specified as an action frame belonging to amanagement frame, which will be described below.

FIG. 10A is a block diagram illustrating a SNAV-A frame according to thefirst example embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 10B is a blockdiagram illustrating a SNAV-A frame according to the second exampleembodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 10C is a block diagramillustrating a SNAV-A frame according to the third example embodiment ofthe present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 10A to 10C, a SNAV-A frame 1000 includes a MAC header1010, a category field 1020, an action field 1030, a transmitter addressfield 1040, a dialog token field 1050, a schedule counter field 1060 andat least one schedule information field 1071, and 1072 to 107 n. Theaction field 1030 may indicate the type of a current frame. For example,the action field 1030, which is set to a binary number 00, may indicatethat the current frame is the SNAV-A frame 1000. The transmitter addressfield 1040 may be set to a MAC address of a communication entity thattransmits the SNAV-A frame 1000. Accordingly, the transmitter addressfield of the SNAV-A frame 901 illustrated in FIG. 9 may be set to a MACaddress of the second station STA2. The dialog token field 1050 may havea unique value for identifying the SNAV-A frame 1000. That is, acommunication entity having received the SNAV-A frame 1000 may identifythe SNAV-A frame 1000 by using the transmitter address field 1040 andthe dialog token field 1050. The schedule counter field 1060 mayindicate the number of schedule information fields 1071 and 1072 to 107n included in the SNAV-A frame 1000.

Each of the schedule information fields 1071 and 1072 to 107 n mayindicate information about an exclusive duration in which channeloccupancy is required for transmission or reception of a data frame. TheSNAV-A frame 1000 may include the plurality of schedule informationfields 1071 and 1072 to 107 n.

According to the first embodiment of the present invention, the scheduleinformation fields 1071 and 1072 to 107 n may include start time fields1071-1 and 1072-1 to 107 n-1 and duration fields 1071-2 and 1072-2 to107 n-2 of the exclusive durations. The duration fields 1071-2 and1072-2 to 107 n-2 each may indicate a duration time of an exclusiveduration in which channel occupancy is required for transmission orreception of a data frame. The start time fields 1071-1 and 1072-1 to107 n-1 of the exclusive durations each may indicate a start time of acorresponding one of the exclusive durations indicated by the durationfields 1071-2 and 1072-2 to 107 n-2.

According to the second embodiment of the present invention, theschedule information fields 1071 and 1072 to 107 n may include starttime fields 1071-1 and 1072-1 to 107 n-1 and end time fields 1071-3 and1072-3 to 107 n-3 of the exclusive durations. The start time fields1071-1 and 1072-1 to 107 n-1 of the exclusive durations each mayindicate a start time of a corresponding one of the exclusive durations,and the end time fields 1071-3 and 1072-3 to 107 n-3 of the exclusivedurations each may indicate an end time of a corresponding one of theexclusive durations.

According to the third embodiment of the present invention, the scheduleinformation fields 1071 and 1072 to 107 n may include start time fields1071-4 and 1072-4 to 107 n-4, duration fields 1071-2 and 1072-2 to 107n-2, interval fields 1071-5 and 1072-5 to 107 n-5 of communicationdurations, and end time indicating fields 1071-6 and 1072-6 to 107 n-6of communication durations. The start time fields 1071-4 and 1072-4 to107 n-4 of communication durations each may indicate a start time of acommunication duration including at least one exclusive duration (forexample, a duration from an end time of the data frame 900 to an endtime of the data frame 915, or a duration from an end time of the SNAV-Aframe 901 to an end time of the data frame 915). When a plurality ofschedule information fields 1071 and 1072 to 107 n exist, only the firstschedule information field 1071 may include the start time field 1071-4of a communication duration. The interval fields 1071-5 and 1072-5 to107 n-5 may each indicate an interval time between exclusive durations.However, the interval field 1071-5 included in the first scheduleinformation field 1071 may include an interval time between the dataframe 900 and the data frame 906, or an interval time between the SNAV-Aframe 901 and the data frame 906. The end time indicating fields 1071-6and 1072-6 to 107 n-6 of the communication durations may each includeinformation indicating an end time of a corresponding one of thecommunication durations. The information indicating an end time of acommunication duration may represent a duration time of a communicationduration, the number of exclusive durations included in a communicationduration or an end time of a communication duration. When a plurality ofschedule information fields 1071 and 1072 to 107 n exist, only the firstschedule information field 1071 may include the end time indicatingfield 1071-6 of a communication duration. Meanwhile, the scheduleinformation fields 1071 and 1072 to 107 n according to the thirdembodiment of the present invention may not include the end timeindicating fields 1071-6 and 1072-6 to 107 n-6 of the communicationdurations. In this case, the communication duration may be maintaineduntil the communication duration is disabled by SNAV-D frames 913 and914. In FIG. 9, the second station STA2 may transmit the SNAV-D frame913 for disabling of the communication durations, and other stationshaving received the SNAV-D frame 913 may disable the communicationdurations. The access point AP having received the SNAV-D frame 913 maytransmit the SNAV-D frame 914 to instruct disabling of a communicationduration of a station corresponding to a hidden node.

Referring again to FIG. 9, the following description will be made inrelation to the SNAV-A frame according to the first embodiment of thepresent invention. The SNAV-A frame according to the second embodimentor the third embodiment of the present invention may include informationabout an exclusive duration in the similar way as with the SNAV-A frameaccording to the first embodiment. The SNAV-A frame 901 includes a firstschedule information field for the data frame 906, a second scheduleinformation field for the data frame 912 and a third scheduleinformation field for the data frame 915. The first schedule informationfield may include a duration field, indicating a duration time of anexclusive duration D1 in which channel occupancy is required for thereception of the data frame 906, and an exclusive duration start timefield, indicating a delay interval time S1 from an end time of theSNAV-A frame 901 to a start time of the exclusive duration D1 indicatedby the duration field. The second schedule information field may includea duration field, indicating a duration time of an exclusive duration D2in which channel occupancy is required for reception of the data frame912, and an exclusive duration start time field, indicating a delayinterval time S2 from an end time of the data frame 906 (or an end timeof the SNAV-A frame 901) to a start time of the exclusive duration D2indicated by the duration field. The third schedule information fieldmay include a duration field, indicating a duration time of an exclusiveduration D3 in which channel occupancy is required for reception of thedata frame 915, and an exclusive duration start time field, indicating adelay interval time S3 from an end time of the data frame 912 (or an endtime of the SNAV-A frame 901) to a start time of the exclusive durationD3 indicated by the duration field.

The second station STA2 may transmit the SNAV-A frame 901 through achannel to request and/or reserve at least one periods D1, D2 and D3 fortransmission or reception of at least one data frames 906, 912 and 915.The periods D1, D2 and D3 may be the exclusive durations which may becontention-free periods (CFPs) during which stations are not allowed tocontend for the channel. The periods D1, D2 and D3 may be made by theSNAV-A frame 901 and/or a SNAV-C (clear) frame 902 into the exclusivedurations which may be the CFPs during which stations are not allowed tocontend for the channel, for stations which can receive and decode theSNAV-A frame 901 and/or the SNAV-C frame 902. The periods D1, D2 and D3may be made by a guide frame 905 into the exclusive durations which maybe CFPs during which stations are not allowed to contend for thechannel, for stations which can neither receive the SNAV-A frame 901 northe SNAV-C frame 902 or for stations which can neither decode the SNAV-Aframe 901 nor the SNAV-C frame 902 or for all stations. In this case,the second station STA2 may transmit the SNAV-A frame 901 to the accesspoint AP associated with the second station STA2, after a contentionwindow according to a random backoff, when a channel is in an idle stateduring a DIFS. Alternatively, the second station STA2 may transmit theSNAV-A frame 901 in a multicast or broadcast scheme.

The access point AP, upon receiving the SNAV-A frame 901, may identifythe SNAV-A frame 901 based on the transmitter address field and thedialog token field, and may set a NAV for a duration indicated by theschedule information field. In addition, the access point AP, uponreceiving the SNAV-A frame 901, may transmit a response frame (forexample, an ACK frame) after an SIFS from an end time of the SNAV-Aframe 901 in response to the SNAV-A frame 901. The access point AP maytransmit, in response to the SNAV-A frame 901 or without receiving theSNAV-A frame 901, the SNAV-C frame 902 in a multicast or broadcastscheme to confirm, request, notify and/or reserve the periods D1, D2and/or D3, after a contention window according to a random backoff, whena channel is in an idle state after the SIFS from an end time of theSNAV-A frame 901 or during a DIFS. The SNAV-C frame 902 may have thesame configuration as that of the SNAV-A frame 901. For example, adialog token field of the SNAV-C frame 902 may be set to have the samevalue as that of the dialog token field of the SNAV-A frame 901.However, in order to indicate that the current frame is the SNAV-C frame902, an action field included in the SNAV-C frame 902 may be set to abinary number 01. A transmitter address field included in the SNAV-Cframe 902 may be set to a MAC address of the access point AP. Anexclusive duration start time field of a schedule information fieldincluded in the SNAV-C frame 902 may indicate a duration from an endtime of the SNAV-C frame 902 to a start time of an exclusive durationindicated by a duration field. Other fields included in the SNAV-C frame902 except for the action field, the transmitter address field and theschedule information field may be the same as those included in theSNAV-A frame 901.

Meanwhile, when the first station STA1 fails to receive at least one ofthe SNAV-A frame 901 and the SNAV-C frame 902, or conforms to a previousstandard made before an IEEE 802.11 standard, which defines the SNAV-Aframe 901 and the SNAV-C frame 902 (that is, fails to decode the SNAV-Aframe 901 and the SNAV-C frame 902), the first station STA1 does notknow whether an exclusive duration indicated by the SNAV-A frame 901 orthe SNAV-C frame 902 is occupied by other stations and frametransmission is limited. When the first station STA1 has data desired tobe transmitted to the access point AP, the first station STA1 maytransmit an RTS frame 903 to the access point AP, because an intervalbetween an end time of the SNAV-A frame 901 and a start time of theexclusive duration D1 or an interval between an end time of the SNAV-Cframe 902 and a start time of the exclusive duration D1 is a contentionperiod during which stations are allowed to contend for the channel. Theaccess point AP having received the RTS frame 903 may transmit a guardframe 904 when a duration indicated by a duration field included in theRTS frame 903 overlaps an exclusive duration indicated by the SNAV-Aframe 901 or the SNAV-C frame 902, to prevent frame collision in theoverlapped duration. In this case, the guard frame 904 may represent aself-CTS frame, and represent a control frame having a duration fieldfor NAV setting, a management frame having a duration field for NAVsetting or a data frame having a duration field for NAV setting. Theduration field included in the guard frame 904 may indicate a durationtime falling within a range between an end time of the guard frame 904and a start time indicated by an exclusive duration start time field ofa first schedule information field included in the SNAV-A frame 901 orthe SNAV-C frame 902. The first station STA1, upon receiving the guardframe 904, may abandon a current transmission opportunity involving theRTS frame 903, or try to get a new transmission opportunity.

The CFP may be a time period during the operation of a pointcoordination function (PCF) when the right to transmit is assigned tostations (STAs) solely by a point coordinator (PC), allowing frameexchanges to occur between members of the BSS without contention for thewireless medium (WM). The PC may be the entity within the STA in an APthat performs the PCF. The contention period (CP) may be a time periodoutside of the CFP in a point-coordinated BSS. In a BSS where there isno PC, the CP corresponds to the entire time of operation of the BSS.

When a duration indicated by a duration field included in the RTS frame903 does not overlap an exclusive duration indicated by the SNAV-A frame901 or the SNAV-C frame 902, the access point AP may transmit a CTSframe 904 having duration information included in the RTS frame 903.Even when a duration indicated by a duration field included in the RTSframe 903 overlaps an exclusive duration indicated by the SNAV-A frame901 or the SNAV-C frame 902, the access point AP may transmit a CTSframe 904 including information about a duration that does not overlapthe exclusive duration. The first station STA1, upon receiving the CTSframe 904, may transmit a data frame to the access point AP whentransmission of the data frame is possible during a duration timeindicated by a duration field included in the CTS frame 904. Meanwhile,the first station STA1 may not transmit a data frame to the access pointAP if transmission of the data frame is not possible during a durationtime indicated by a duration field included in the CTS frame 904.

Meanwhile, for a legacy station that conforms to a previous standardmade before an IEEE 802.11 standard, which defines the SNAV-A frame 901and the SNAV-C frame 902, the legacy station is unable to decode theSNAV-A frame 901 and the SNAV-C frame 902, in order to prevent acollision between frames in an exclusive duration indicated by theSNAV-A frame 901 or the SNAV-C frame 902, the access point AP maytransmit the guard frame 905 in a preset duration (a buffer duration)that is set to be prior to a start time indicated by an exclusiveduration start time field of the first schedule information field. Inthis case, the guard frame 905 may represent a self-CTS frame(CTS-to-self), and represent a control frame having a duration field forNAV setting, a management frame having a duration field for NAV settingor a data frame having a duration field for NAV setting. A durationfield of the guard frame 905 may indicate a duration time falling withina range between an end time of the guard frame 905 and an end time of anexclusive duration indicated by a duration field of the first scheduleinformation field. Each communication entity having received the guardframe 905 may set a NAV based on a duration time indicated by theduration field included in the guard frame 905.

Stations which can receive and decode the SNAV-A frame 901 or the SNAV-C902 frame except the AP and the STA2 may set delayed NAV for theexclusive durations D1, D2, and/or D3.

The third station STA3 may transmit the data frame 906 to the secondstation STA2 in a Bluetooth scheme. As described above, othercommunication entities do not transmit frames in a transmission durationof the data frame 906 (that is, an exclusive duration), so the secondstation STA2 successfully receives the data frame 906.

Then, when the first station STA1 has data that is to be transmitted tothe access point AP, the first station STA1 may transmit an RTS frame907 to the access point AP, because an interval between the durations D1and D2 is a contention period during which stations are allowed tocontend for the channel. The access point AP having received the RTSframe 907 may transmit a CTS frame 908 when a duration indicated by aduration field included in the RTS frame 907 does not overlap anexclusive duration indicated by a duration field of a second scheduleinformation field included in the SNAV-A frame 901 or the SNAV-C frame902. A duration field included in the CTS frame 908 may indicate aduration time from an end time of the CTS frame 908 to an end time of anACK frame 910. The first station STA1, upon receiving the CTS frame 908may transmit a data frame 909 to the access point AP. The access pointAP, upon successfully receiving the data frame 909, may transmit, to thefirst station STA1, the ACK frame 910 in response to the data frame 909.The first station STA1, upon receiving the ACK frame 910, determinesthat the data frame 909 is successfully received by the access point AP.

Meanwhile, the access point AP may transmit a guard frame 911 in apreset duration that is set to be prior to a start time indicated by anexclusive duration start time field of the second schedule informationfield (that is, a buffer duration) in order to prevent a collisionbetween frames in the exclusive duration indicated by the secondschedule information field. In this case, the guard frame 911 mayrepresent a self-CTS frame, and represent a control frame having aduration field for NAV setting, a management frame having a durationfield for NAV setting or a data frame having a duration field for NAVsetting. The duration field included in the guard frame 911 may indicatea duration time falling within a range between an end time of the guardframe 911 and an end time of an exclusive duration indicated by aduration field of the second schedule information field. Eachcommunication entity having received the guard frame 911 may set a NAVbased on a duration time indicated by the duration field included in theguard frame 911.

The third station STA3 may transmit the data frame 912 to the secondstation STA2 in a Bluetooth scheme. As described above, othercommunication entities do not transmit frames in a transmission durationof the data frame 912, the second station STA2 successfully receives thedata frame 912.

Meanwhile, the second station STA2 may generate a SNAV-D (delete) frame913 in order to cancel the NAV set based on the third scheduleinformation field included in the SNAV-A frame 901. As the SNAV-D frame913, one of a control frame, a management frame and a data frame definedin IEEE 802.11 may be used, or a newly specified frame may be used. Forexample, the SNAV-D frame 913 may include a MAC header 1010, a categoryfield 1020, an action field 1030, a transmitter address field 1040, adialog token field 1050 that are illustrated in FIGS. 10A to 10C. Theaction field 1030 may indicate the type of a current frame. For example,the action field 1030, which is set to a binary number 10, may indicatethat the current frame is the SNAV-D frame 913. The transmitter addressfield 1040 may be set to a MAC address of a communication entity thattransmits the SNAV-D frame 913. Accordingly, the transmitter addressfield of the SNAV-D frame 913 may be set to a MAC address of the secondstation STA2. The dialog token field 1050 may be set to the same valueas a value of a dialog token field of the SNAV-A frame 901 or the SNAV-Cframe 902. That is, the dialog token field 1050 may indicate that theNAV set based on the SNAV-A frame 901 needs to be canceled.

The second station STA2 may transmit the SNAV-D frame 913. In this case,the second station STA2 may transmit the SNAV-D frame 913 to the accesspoint AP associated with the second station STA2, after a contentionwindow according to a random backoff, when a channel is in an idle stateduring a DIFS. Alternatively, the second station STA2 may transmit theSNAV-D frame 913 in a multicast or broadcast scheme.

The access point AP, upon receiving the SNAV-D frame 913, may identifythrough a value set in the dialog token field of the SNAV-D frame 913that the NAV set based on SNAV-A frame 901 needs to be cancelled.Accordingly, the access point AP may cancel the NAV set based on thethird schedule information field of the SNAV-A frame 901. In addition,the access point AP, upon receiving the SNAV-D frame 913, may transmit aresponse frame (for example, an ACK frame) after a SIFS from an end timeof the SNAV-D frame 913 in response to the SNAV-D frame 913.Alternatively, the access point AP may transmit, in response to theSNAV-D frame 913, a SNAV-D frame 914 in a multicast or broadcast scheme,after a contention window according to a random backoff, when a channelis in an idle state after an SIFS from an end time of the SNAV-D frame913 or during a DIFS. The SNAV-D frame 914 may have the sameconfiguration as that of the SNAV-D frame 913. However, a transmitteraddress field included in the SNAV-D frame 914 may be set to a MACaddress of the access point AP. Other fields included in the SNAV-Dframe 914 except for the transmitter address field may be the same asthose included in the SNAV-D frame 913. The first station STA1, uponreceiving the SNAV-D frame 914, may identify through a value set in thedialog token field of the SNAV-D frame 914 that the NAV set based on theSNAV-A frame 901 or the SNAV-C frame 902 needs to be cancelled.Accordingly, the first station STA1 may cancel the NAV set based on thethird schedule information field of the SNAV-A frame 901 or the SNAV-Cframe 902.

As is apparent from the above, a NAV can be set to delay by a presettime through a SNAV-A frame or a SNAV-C frame. The set NAV can becancelled by a SNAV-D frame. Such a construction can prevent a collisionbetween a frame transmitted and received based on a wireless LANtechnology and frames transmitted and received based on othercommunication technologies. In addition, channel access through othercommunication technologies except for wireless LAN technology isprevented from being excessively limited due to a NAV set based on aSNAV-A frame or a SNAV-C frame. Accordingly, fairness in channel accessis ensured between a wireless LAN technology and other communicationtechnologies.

In above embodiments, the exclusive duration which may be the CFP may beused for preventing collision between two kinds of frames, but thepresent invention does not need to be limited to these embodiments. Theexclusive duration or the CFP may be used as a duration during which theAP or the PC coordinates frame exchanges as well.

While the example embodiments of the present invention and theiradvantages have been described in detail, it should be understood thatvarious changes, substitutions and alterations may be made hereinwithout departing from the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A communication method performed in acommunication station, comprising: transmitting, by the communicationstation to an access point (AP), a request frame requesting the accesspoint to schedule one or more durations, wherein a first group of one ormore stations is allowed to participate in a communication betweennon-AP stations during the one or more durations, and a second group ofone or more stations is prohibited from transmitting any frames duringthe one or more durations; and receiving, by the communication stationfrom the access point, a response frame of the request frame, whereinthe communication station is not an access point, and wherein therequest frame includes information on a start time of an earliestduration of the one or more durations, and information on a time lengthof the one or more durations.
 2. The communication method of claim 1,further comprising: receiving, from the access point, a setup frameimmediately followed by a scheduled duration, wherein during thescheduled duration the first group is allowed to participate in thecommunication between non-AP stations and the second group is prohibitedfrom transmitting any frame.
 3. The communication method of claim 2,wherein the response frame includes information on the start time of theearliest duration of the one or more durations, information on the timelength of the one or more durations, and information on an intervalbetween two consecutive durations of the one or more durations.
 4. Thecommunication method of claim 3, wherein the response frame furtherincludes information indicating an end time of the one or moredurations.
 5. The communication method of claim 4, wherein the responseframe further includes a dialog token field identifying a dialog relatedto the response frame.
 6. The communication method of claim 1, whereinthe request frame further includes information on an interval betweentwo consecutive durations of the one or more durations.
 7. Thecommunication method of claim 6, wherein the request frame furtherincludes information indicating an end time of the one or moredurations.
 8. The communication method of claim 7, wherein the requestframe further includes a dialog token field identifying a dialog relatedto the request frame.
 9. The communication method of claim 1, whereinthe request frame is an action frame belonging to a first managementframe, and the response frame is an action frame belonging to a secondmanagement frame.
 10. A communication method performed in an accesspoint (AP), comprising: receiving, from the communication station, arequest frame requesting the access point to schedule one or moredurations, wherein a first group of one or more stations is allowed toparticipate in a communication between non-AP stations during the one ormore durations, and a second group of one or more stations is prohibitedfrom transmitting any frames during the one or more durations; andtransmitting, to the communication station, a response frame of therequest frame, wherein the communication station is not an access point,and wherein the request frame includes information on a start time of anearliest duration of the one or more durations, and information on atime length of the one or more durations.
 11. The communication methodof claim 10, further comprising: transmitting a setup frame immediatelyfollowed by a scheduled duration, wherein during the scheduled durationthe first group is allowed to participate in the communication betweennon-AP stations and the second group is prohibited from transmitting anyframes.
 12. The communication method of claim 11, wherein the responseframe includes information on the start time of the earliest duration ofthe one or more durations, information on the time length of the one ormore durations, and information on an interval between two consecutivedurations of the one or more durations.
 13. The communication method ofclaim 12, wherein the response frame further includes informationindicating an end time of the one or more durations.
 14. Thecommunication method of claim 13, wherein the response frame furtherincludes a dialog token field identifying a dialog related to theresponse frame.
 15. The communication method of claim 10, wherein therequest frame further includes information on an interval between twoconsecutive durations of the one or more durations.
 16. Thecommunication method of claim 15, wherein the request frame furtherincludes information indicating an end time of the one or moredurations.
 17. The communication method of claim 16, wherein the requestframe further includes a dialog token field identifying a dialog relatedto the request frame.
 18. The communication method of claim 10, whereinthe request frame is an action frame belonging to a first managementframe, and the response frame is an action frame belonging to a secondmanagement frame.